Thursday, April 21, 2011

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #7, September 1955, was published around July 14, 1955. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of 10¢. The editor was Mort Weisinger, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. All three eight page stories were written by Otto Binder, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by RayBurnley. They were reprinted in Showcase Presents: Superman Family vol. I.

The Amazing Mirages began with 3 young men saying goodbye to their friends. They were leaving to go to the Badlands Desert to strike it rich by uranium mining. Their jalopy barely made it down the street before breaking down. Undaunted, the three amigos put their packs on their backs and made their way on foot, as an amused Jimmy Olsen watched.

Later that day, Perry White assigned Jimmy to cover the story about rumored uranium strikes in the Badlands. Jimmy piloted the Daily Planet's Flying Newsroom helicopter, and recognized the three would be uranium prospectors. He gave them a ride to the Badlands Desert.

When he learned that they didn't even have a compass and map, Jimmy decided to tag along just to keep them from getting lost and dying in the desert. One of them used a geiger counter and thought he found some uranium. Jimmy figured out that the guy had detected the radium in the glow in the dark face of his own watch. Later, Jimmy kept them from walking into a rattlesnake, and later from following a mirage they thought was water.

As they made camp for the night Jimmy asked them if they were ready to go back to Metropolis. They refused to turn back, if only to avoid being laughed at by their friends. After they fell asleep, Jimmy callled Superman with his signal watch.Superman wouldn't force them to go back, but together they devised a plan to make the guys want to return home.

The next day the hungry guys found a plant with some edible leaves. Jimmy told them it was loco weed, and would give them hallucinations, but the plant was harmless.That was Superman's signal to go into action.

The Man of Steel flew a fake pterodactyl he had made over the boys, but Jimmy pretended that he didn't see it. He chalked it up to the boys seeing things. Later, Superman hollowed out a cactus and wore it like a costume, becoming a dancing cactus. Finally, the Man of Steel took some cactus sap and made two crude rubber spider webs. When the guys walked near it, he used his super breath to blow them into one, bouncing them between the two webs. Jimmy told them they must be hallucinating.

That was the last straw. The three amigos were ready to tuck tail and go back to Metropolis, and Jimmy provided a ride once again. But he convinced them to admit their mistake to their friends instead of just sneaking back home. The guys found their neighbors admired them for taking responsibility for their error. Afterward, Jimmy told them of the tricks he and Superman had played on them, but they weren't mad. They were glad Jimmy and Superman saved them from themselves.

I liked how Jimmy looked out for the three guys in their ignorance, but the phrase that comes to mind about them is, "dumb as dirt." It's hard for me to feel sorry for these guys. Maybe it's just the old man in me, so "Get off my lawn." On the other hand, we've all done stupid things in out youth. The tricks Superman and Jimmy played on them were silly, but well deserved.

I did a quick search on uranium mining, and found that it was done through both tunneling and open pits. Uranium miners risk radioactive exposure from uranium dust in open pit mining, and exposure to radon gas in underground uranium mining. this made it more obvious that the three guys had no idea what they were getting into. It was hard for me to care about their situation, so I give this story 2 Superman Capes out of 5.

The Scoop Of 1869 began with Clark Kent escorting Jimmy Olsen to the Ink Aces Club, an exclusive club for newspaper reporters, which had been founded in 1843. Jimmy had been nominated by Superman. After submitting his application, Clark asked Jimmy to interview an inventor who claimed to have perfected a time traveling flying carpet.

Jimmy thought the inventor was a crackpot, but suddenly a mist formed around the carpet as Jimmy stood on it, and when the smoke cleared, he was in Midvale, Utah Territory in 1869. Jimmy found some old clothes to wear so that he would fit in better, and found a job at the local newspaper office. He thought it would be easy, until he found out he would have to set type by hand.

Later, Jimmy recognized the famous Union Pacific train, and after finding out the date, realized it was the day before the Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines met, to form the nation's first transcontinental railroad. He rode a horse and buggy to the site, but the buggy crashed before he got there. Jimmy then took parts of the buggy and improvised a crude bicycle. He finally arrived in time to watch history.

When he tried to telegraph the story back to the Midvale newspaper, he found that the telegraph lines were down. So he rented a hot air balloon to fly back to town. When the winds began to blow the balloon off course, he let air out of the balloon to land it, on top of the tree. Jimmy was able to safely climb down form the tree and made the rest of the way on foot.

Back at the newspaper office, Jimmy found that he hadn't traveled back in time, but it was his initiation to the Ink Aces Club. Fellow members took part in period dress. The mist contained a sleeping gas, and Jimmy was carried to the town, which was a permanent historical exhibit built by Superman himself. The Man of Steel had also built a treadmill that Jimmy rode the horse and buggy on. Superman used his super breath to kick up dust so that his Pal wouldn't notice. Then the Man of Steel made the buggy hit a rock and wreck, and later made sure Jimmy's balloon landed safely in the tree Superman also operated life size puppets, who were the railroad workers when the two trains met.

Jimmy thought he had failed the initiation because he didn't spot the ruse, but he discovered that wasn't the point. The whole scenario was to see if he could live up to the club's motto, Get the news or bust, which he did with flying colors.

While the tricks that were played on Jimmy were typical silver age silliness, like the treadmill and the life size puppets, it was a fun story about Jimmy not letting any obstacles get in the way of delivering the story. Of course it wouldn't be a Mort Weisinger story if someone wasn't having a trick pulled don them, especially when he was joining a club. Still, this was the most enjoyable story of the issue, and I give it 4 Capes out of 5.

The King Of Marbles, which was featured on the cover, began as Perry White announced that the Daily Planet would sponsor a boys' marble tournament, and would present a trophy to the winner.

When the boy who would represent the MIB Masters marbles brand fell ill, Jimmy volunteered to take his place. He found that he was a little rusty at his marble skills from his childhood, but Superman helped him find his game.

At the tournament, Jimmy and Superman met Cyrus Colby, promoter of the Target brand of marbles and sponsor of the Target kid. He seemed to rub Superman the wrong way. As Jimmy played several rounds, Colby secretly photographed Jimmy's favorite aggie he used.

At the championship round the next day, it was Jimmy vs. the Target Kid. Colby asked to photograph Jimmy's favorite aggie, this time with a regular camera. What he actually did was switch it with a duplicate he had made using a photo from his secret camera from the day before.

As part of the marbles tournament, Superman demonstrated his own marbles prowess, including throwing one up in the air and splitting it with another. He noticed a tiny metal ball fall out of the broken one, and recognized that it had been a Target marble.

Superman noticed Jimmy's aggie curve slightly as it missed during one of Jimmy's turns. Using hes x-ray vision, the Man of Steel discovered a small remote control magnet hidden under where the match was being played. Superman diabled it with his x-ray vision, and Jimmy was able to rally and win.

The Man of Steel exposed Colby of using a switch to turn on the hidden magnet when it was Jimmy's turn. After taking him to jail, Superman took the Target Kid home, and comforted him by telling him he had nothing to do with Colby's cheating. Except for the few times Colby used the magnet, he won most of his games on his own talent.

Colby was a scumbag to try and cheat at a marbles tournament just to raise publicity for his marbles brand. But it was hard to get excited about this story of Superman being involved in a marbles tournament. I did like how Superman went out of his way to talk to the Target kid, but otherwise I have to give this story 2 Capes out of 5.

World's Finest Comics #78, September/October 1955, was published around July 28, 1955. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. The editor was Jack Schiff, and the cover was drawn by Win Mortimer.

The Superman/Batman story was When Superman's Identity Is Exposed. The twelve page story was written by Edmond Hamilton, and drawn by the classic silver age Batman artists, penciller Dick Sprang and inker Charles Paris. This story was reprinted in World's Finest Comics Archives vol. I and Showcase Presents: World's Finest vol. I.

The story began with someone typing on Clark Kent's typewriter, Clark Kent is Superman. Clark then discovered a similar message on a poster in a hallway, and painted on the side of a car, as well as played at an electronics convention.

In Gotham City, after Batman and Robin nabbed a member of the Varrel Mob, they noticed a Bat Signal coming from the direction of Metropolis. They knew it was an alert from Superman.

When they arrived in Metropolis Superman shared his dilemma with them. Batman volunteered to help Superman solve the mystery.

They investigated several instances where a message was posted accusing Clark Kent of being Superman, including a dirigible. Batman discovered that it had been built using a high pressure, and that the rubber skin had been made with junk rubber.

Lois asked Batman at one point why Commissioner Gordon had said that Batman was turning Gotham City upside down when he was in Metropolis. Batman thought at the time that Gordon just didn't want to tip off the gang that Batman wa out of town.

Bruce Wayne impersonated Clark Kent, so that both Clark and Superman could both appear at an aquarium opening. Bruce sent Robin back to Gotham to find out if maybe there was a Bat-impersonator there. After the aquarium opening, Robin radioed Batman that Gordon had seen a Batman operating in Gotham City. The Boy Wonder was also flying the Batplane to pick him up.

Back at Gotham City a second Batman was approaching a house he suspected as being the hideout for the Varrel gang. He entered, only to be knocked out by gas. When the gang remove his mask, they discovered that Batman's secret identity was -- Superman? The Man of Steel then took out the gang. Batman and Robin landed nearby and caught a few who were about to get away.

Batman discussed with Superman how he had put the clues together. The Man of Steel confirmed that he had secretly placed those messages about his secret identity, to draw Batman to Metropolis. He feared that the Varrel gang might try to set a trap for Batman, so Superman disguised himself as Batman to hunt for the gang himself.

The story did a good job of setting up the clues, and the classic Sprang/Paris art was fantastic. It was a variation of the theme of Superman playing a trick on Batman for his protection, because Batman was always obsessive/compulsive about catching the criminal. And of course Lois was confused at the end.I give this story 3 Capes out of 5.

In two weeks: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated October 1955; Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen!

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Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League Of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/, and is now a proud member of the Superman WebRing of websites, and the Superman Podcast Network at http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/supermanpodcastnetwork. Check it out to discover other fine Superman podcasts.

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The theme of this podcast is Plans In Motion, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.

My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any cover art displayed with the show notes is done for entertainment and educational purposes only. I post these episodes to share my enjoyment of Superman comics and do not earn any money from this podcast.

Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Action Comics #245, October 1958, was published around August 28, 1958. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of 10¢. The editor was Mort Weisinger and the cove was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. Normally, Superman would also be published, but at this time it was published ten times a year. The title would also skip the December 1958 month.

The Superman story of Action was The Shrinking Superman. The thirteen page story was writtem by Otto Binder, pencilled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye. It was reprinted in Superman: The Man Of Tomorrow Archives, vol. I, Showcase Presents: Superman vol. I and Superman: The Bottle City Of Kandor.

Lois began the story dressed in a fur parka. Superman picked her up from the Daily Planet offices to take her to his Fortress of Solitude. She was going to write a feature story on the Man of Steel's Fortress. After showing her around, Superman had to return to Metropolis for a short time to take care of some appointments, which is never a good idea with Lois in the silver age. He told her that if she had to contact him, use the special crystal ball TV transeiver.

As she explored the Fortress, she came to the Bottle City of Kandor. She peered into the bottle, and accidentally knocked it off of its table. She picked it back up, and it seemed to be undamaged except for a small crack.

But Zak-Kul, a renegade Kryptonian scientist, escaped through a crack. Using an enlarging ray, Zak-Kul used a timy bit of rare element Ilium-349 to enlarge himself to normal size. He had used a telescope to study Superman's Frotress, and used a plastic surgery machine's Superman setting to change his facial features to duplicate the Man of Steel's look. Zak-Kul removed a Superman costume from a statue of the Man of Steel and changed into it. He called the bottle city Krypton City.

He approached Lois, and she thought the real Superman had returned. But then the real Man of Steel contacted Lois through the special TV transeiver, and Zak-Kul was forced to reveal his true identity. Before Lois could alert the real Superman, Zak-Kul used his x-ray vision to knock the head off of another (?) Superman statue, which knocked Lois out.

When she awoke she saw two Supermen. She grabbed the enlarging device that Zak-Kul had placed on a table for some reason, and challenged both of them with a question about "Gunner" Gates. (He wore an eye patch.) When one of the Supermen said he couldn't remember because he caught so many criminals, Lois shrunk him and placed him in the crack of the bottle city. Superman used his x-ray vision to seal the crack, and returned Lois to Metropolis.

During the journey, through a thought balloon we learned that Superman was actuall Zak-Kul. The real Superman flubbed the question in order to avoid a super fight that could harm or kill Lois. He worried about what Zak-Kul was doing in Metropolis.

Instead of robbing and pillaging, Zak-Kul took the Man of Steel's place doing super deeds for Metropolis. He took great pleasure "robbing" the real Superman of fame and glory.

Back in Krypton City, Superman finally found Zak-Kul's lab, and began a desperate search for the rare element Ilium-349.

In Metropolis, Zak-Kul, as Superman, danced with Lois. He decided to propose, and Lois fainted. When she revived, she accepted. The real Superman watched on a special monitor in Zak-Kul's lab as the fake Superman married Lois. Outside the Justice of the Peace office Lois said she couldn't wait to learn Superman's secret identity.

Spooked, Zak-Kul said he was going to build their newlywed home off of North Road, and for Lois to follow in an hour. Actually he sheared off the road, so that Lois drove off of a cliff. The Zak-Kul Superman waved goodbye as Lois fell to her death. Lois realized that she had sent the wrong Superman to Krypton City. Just before she crashed, the real Superman saved her. He told her that he had finally found three specks of element Ilium-349. The first speck he used to shrink himself to atomic size, so that he slipped between the bottle's atoms. The second speck he used to enlarge himself to normal size.

When Zak-Kul used his telescopic vision to discover that the real Superman had escaped, he crashed into a men's clothing store, because it's uncool for a super hero or villain to use an open door or window. He stole a suit and glasses to disguise himself.

Without using his x-ray vision, Superman spotted the disguised Zak-Kul and shrunk him with the final speck of Ilium-349. The reason that Superman found Zak-Kul was that he had unknowingly dressed as Clark Kent. superman returned Zak-Kul to Krypton City, with an attached note for the Kryptonian Police.

Back at the Daily Planet offices, Lois ripped up her marriage license, since her marriage had been annulled. She asked Clark if the right Superman would ever propose to her. Clark said how would he know?

I was curious how Superman was able to broadcast a video message to the Fortress's Crystal TV. We weren't shown any portable device. Also, when the bottle containing Krypton City was knocked over, why wasn't the city heavily damaged or destroyed, and the population wiped out or having few survivors. The only thing I could think of was that Krypton City's more advanced technology made their structures much stronger, or maybe its miniature size and higher gravity made it immune to the effects of the bottle's fall.

Why was there a Superman setting on the alien plastic surgery machine in the Fortress. A similar device would have a small but key role in the Lois Lane story I Am Curious - Black from Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #106, November 1970, published around September 24, 1970. That issue was discussed back in Episode #33, August 20, 2008. Also, why did Superman have a statue of himself in his Fortress, if not two? If there was only one statue, how did a new costume get on it after Zak-Kul removed it.

The story avoided the situation of Zak-Kul consummating his marriage with Lois. That would have been the ultimate robbery against Superman. But if that would have happened, then the Comics Code Authority seal would have melted off the cover.

It was an interesting way that Superman avoided subjecting Lois to the risk of injury or death in a fight against Zak-Kul. The Man of Steel took an awful chance not being able to find a way to escape Krypton City in time to save Lois.

I am surprised that Zak-Kul never discovered Superman's secret identity with the telescope that he used to study the Fortress.

Because of Superman's efforts to save Lois from the risk of a battle in the Fortress, I give this story 4 Superman Capes out of 5.

The second story of the issue starred Tommy Tomorrow in the six page tale, The Interplanetary Scarecrow. It was written by Otto Binder and drawn by Jim Mooney.

Congo Bill starred in the third and final six page story The Secret Of The Super Animals, written by Jack Miller and drawn by Howard Sherman.

Elsewhere in DC Comics with the October 1958 cover date were 33 titles.

Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups or pages on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.

Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League Of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/, and is now a proud member of the Superman WebRing of websites, and the Superman Podcast Network at http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/supermanpodcastnetwork. Check it out to discover other fine Superman podcasts.

Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.

The theme of this podcast is Plans In Motion, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.

My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any cover art displayed with the show notes is done for entertainment and educational purposes only. I post these episodes to share my enjoyment of Superman comics and do not earn any money from this podcast.

Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #6, July/August 1955, was published around May 19, 1955. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of 10¢, Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. The same creative team did all three eight page stories in this issue, writer Otto Binder, penciller Curt Swan and inker Ray Burnley. All three stories were reprinted in Showcase Presents: Superman Family vol. I.

The King Of Magic began at the Hotel Metropolis, where a magician was checking in for the Magician's Convention. He gave the bellhop his top hat, and a rabbit jumped out of it. The bellhop took the Magician's bags to his room, and in a thought balloon we learned that the bellhop was none other than Jimmy Olsen in disguise. He wasn't trying to uncover magicians' tricks for a feature story, but was looking for a swindler posing as a magician.

In his hotel room, the Magician tossed Jimmy a coin, which sprouted wings and flew away. The Magician then told Jimmy not to worry, he'd give him a real tip. Jimmy answered, "I know, don't trust magicians." Since Jimmy was a good sport, the Magician gave him a $5.00 bill.

In the hallway, Jimmy compared the bill to a chart of common counterfeit flaws and discovered that the $5 was indeed fake. So Jimmy had discovered his swindler, who was going by the stage name of "Trikko".

In a flashback we were shown one of Trikko's victims. The man put $5,000 in a small device, which spit out double the amount. Unfortuneately for him, the $10,000 were all counterfeit bills, while Trikko pocketed the real money.

Jimmy called for Superman with his signal watch. When Superman appeared, Jimmy filled him in about Trikko. The Man of Steel informed Jimmy that it was only Trikko's word against his, and that they would need to catch the thief red handed. Jimmy continued to work as a bellhop, and was subject to their tricks. He didn't mind, because they tipped well for him being a good sport.

That evening, Jimmy put on a tuxedo and top hat, along with a mustache, to disguise himself as one of the magicians, to watch a "King Of Magic" contest among the magicians. If a magician stumped a panel of expert magicians with a magic trick, he would be declared a winner.

The ninth magician to perform went by the stage name of Mr. Magic, and picked Jimmy out of the audience for an assistant. For his first trick he planted a seed in a large container filled with dirt. After watering it and saying the magic words, a grown tree appeared in a puff of smoke, with Jimmy stock at the top of the tree.

To get Jimmy down, Mr. Magic walked up a flight of invisible stairs for his next trick. The expert panel could detect no wires or other invisible means of support. Then for his third trick, he had the panel inspect an ordinary rope. Then he tossed it into the air, and it became stiff enough for Jimmy to climb to the top of the rope. He noticed that there was a skylight above his head, which gave him clues about Mr. Magic's impossible trick.

Mr. Magic was crowned "King Of Magic", then proceeded to auction off his secrets to his tricks. Trikko won with a bid of $25,000. That gave Jimmy another clue about what was really going on. Mr. Magic gave Trikko a chance to back out of the deal, in case he was tricking Trikko, but the Magician refused. After taking the money, Mr. Magic opened his tuxedo to reveal that he was really Superman.

Trikko accused Superman of swindling him, but the Man of Steel reminded him that he was getting a taste of his own medicine. When Superman turned his back to listen to Jimmy talk about how the money would reimburse Trikko's victims, Trikko tried another sleight of hand and attempted to switch the money with a fake bag of $25 K's. But Superman's eyes were quicker than Trikko's hands, and so he nabbed the magical swindler in the act and took him to jail.

Back at Jimmy's home, Superman told him that the reason he picked him out of the audience was that if he realized who Mr. Magic was, he could trust his Pal to keep it under his hat during the act.

In a story on the next day's front page of the Daily Planet, Jimmy read the headline about the Magicians had elected Superman their Honorary King of Magic, for weeding a bad apple out of their group.

The thought balloon at the beginning of the story, where we learned the reason Jimmy posed as a bellhop, was necessary, but I had to wonder if he thought the same thing with every Magician he carried his bags for. It didn't seem likely. Also, it seemed unusual that someone with a lot of money could be so gullible, but I guess all of us can fall for a swindler if we're not careful. And I had to wonder if, when Superman used his super speed to pull off his magic tricks, wouldn't he cause gusts of wind through the auditorium? Finally, there's no two ways around it. Superman did swindle Trikko, even though he gave him a chance to back out of the deal. But it's hard to have any sympathy for someone who would swindle someone out of their money. I thought it was a clever story, and I give it 4 Superman Capes out of 5.

Jockey Olsen Rides Star Flash began with Superman saving Jimmy from a hamburger. Jimmy thanked the Man of Steel for helping him stick to his diet so that he can make his weight for a charity horse race on Star Flash. Superman has lunch with Jimmy, and cuts back his salad to make sure his Pal got the proper nutrition but not unwanted pounds.

After lunch they checked on Star Flash in a special stall in the Daily Planet's basement. I'm not sure a basement is the best place for a horse, even if zoning laws would allow it. I wonder how the horse could get any exercise downtown, much less how they will get the smell out of the basement when the race is over. Jimmy also tried on his jockey uniform.

Back at his office, Jimmy weighed himself, but hadn't lost any weight yet. Perry informed Jimmy that if he didn't lose enough weight in time for the race, he wouldn't have enough time to find another jockey.

While Superman extinguished a fire across town, Chuck Thomas, an ice cream salesman with Yummy Boy ice cream, tried to hijack Jimmy's weight loss by offering him a free sample ice cream bar. That was because Chuck had told his boss that he could fire him if he lost the race.The Man of Steel kept an eye on Jimmy, and used his x-ray vision to melt the ice cream bar. Chuck watched Jimmy weigh himself, and after Olsen went back to work, Chuck adjusted the scale to weigh three pounds lower than it should. Chuck thought that he had the race won.

Superman continued to share meals with Jimmy to help him stick to his diet. At night, Jimmy dreamed about Superman taking food from him, but he continued to gain weight. Finally, the day of the race, Jimmy weighed himself at the Daily Planet and he weighed 121 lbs. But at the official weigh in at the track, he was three pounds over. Superman went into emergency mode. He took Jimmy to the Old Faithful geyser at Yellowstone National Park, and improvised a sweat box to help Jimmy lose weight. Then he took Jimmy to a Metropolis gym for a quick workout. Jimmy was still one ounce overweight. As he carried Jimmy, Superman told him that he had an idea how he could lose that last ounce, as they flew by a barbershop.

Just before post time, Jimmy made his weight, and Superman carried Jimmy and Star Flash to the gate just before the race started. Jimmy passed Chuck Thomas around the curve, and Chuck realized that cheating doesn't pay. That's the last we saw of Chuck and his horse, Yummy Boy.

Jimmy and Star Flash won by a nose, and Olsen kept his jockey helmet on for the victory photo. In a flashback we saw that Superman had shaved Jimmy's head to lose that final pesky ounce. Jimmy let the secret out when he took his hat off the next day when he arrived for work. His wig caught on the hat and came off of his bald head. Jimmy changed the headline on his victory to Jimmy Olsen And Star Flash Win By Nose Hair.

Finally, Jimmy celebrated his victory with a big lunch.

Superman's x-ray vision is an all purpose super power for the Man of Steel, working as both an ability to see through objects and as heat vision, when he melted Jimmy's ice cream. Jimmy had to feel silly when Superman bent a metal tray into a set of blinders at a restaurant so that Jimmy wouldn't see any other diners. How did Superman get Jimmy all the way to Yellowstone National Park and back so fast? I'm surprised that Jimmy didn't wind up with broken bones after using Superman for a tackling dummy during their final workout. It was a good, not great story, and I give it 3 Capes out of 5.

!00 Pieces Of Kryptonite began with Jimmy Olsen at a seismologist's office, who told Olsen that tremors would hit Metropolis around noon. They were caused by a meteorite hit in nearby mountains. Jimmy used his signal watch to alert Superman. As Jimmy filled in the Man of Steel, Superman spotted another meteor headed for Metropolis. He flew into the air to destroy it high enough above the city to avoid damage. As he approached the meteor Superman realized it was a kryptonite meteor. Undaunted, the Man of Steel crashed into the meteor, disintegrating it into small pieces.

Superman fell to Earth. When Jimmy came to his aid, a very weak Superman told his Pal that he was weak but otherwise unhurt. Kryptonite stole his strength, but not his invulnerability. I'm glad that Superman read the fine print of his continuity. The problem was that now, Metropolis was littered with many tiny pieces of Kryptonite.

Back at the Daily Planet, Perry White alerted all of the city's media outlets, while Jimmy used the Flying Newsroom to alert the general public to bring any kryptonite to the Daily Planet building. It needed to be done by noon, so that Superman would be unhampered in handling any emergencies.

"Angles" Archibald had other ideas, when he found a piece of kryptonite. Back at his hideout he told his henchmen to spread the word, that he would pay a grand for each piece of kryptonite that was brought to him.

When Jimmy landed the Flying Newsroom helicopter to pick up a piece of kryptonite, he was decked by a crook, who said that he was taking it to "Angles". As he rubbed his sore chin, Jimmy wondered who "Angles" was. But he didn't have time to find out, because only half of the estimated amount of kryptonite had been gathered. He did have an idea.

Jimmy gave Superman a walkie talkie and a map, so that the Man of Steel could alert him when he began to feel weak as he flew low over the city. They were able to gather enough kryptonite so that Superman felt back at full power.

As Superman handled all of the emergencies as the tremors hit Metropolis, Jimmy put on a disguise, posing as a low level hoodlum. He painted some rocks with glowing green paint and started asking around the underworld for "Angles". He was taken to "Angles" and learned his motive, to lure the Man of Steel there and hold him there, while his gang pulled a big robbery. Jimmy was unable to leave to alert the police or Superman, because "Angles" wanted him there to help keep Superman from escaping their trap.

They lured Superman to their hideout with gunfire, but the Man of Steel was unaffected by the kryptonite. That was because Jimmy was covering the kryptonite in a safe with a lead sheet. Superman captured the gang and tossed the safe out of the window into the deep ocean. I just hope there weren't any ships in the area where the safe crashed into the water.

The next day, as Clark read the headline about how Jimmy helped save Superman, he reminded Olsen that he had a lot of guts to put himself in such danger. That was when it hit Jimmy just how much danger he had been in.

It;s a good thing "Angles" didn't have a geiger counter, or else Jimmy might have wound up sleeping with the fishes. While I liked the first two stories, this one was my favorite of the issue. I was curious how Superman couldn't recognized the danger from the green meteor before he got too close. He could have used his x-ray (heat) vision to vaporize the meteor, but then we wouldn't have had a story. I do enjoy these stories where Jimmy helps the Man of Steel. I give this story 4 Capes out of 5.

World's Finest Comics #77, July/August 1955, was published around May 31, 1955. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. The editor was Jack Schiff, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. The twelve page Superman/Batman story was The Super Bat-Man, written by Edmond Hamilton, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. This story was reprinted in The Greatest 1950's Stories Ever Told, World's Finest Comics Archive vol. I and Showcase Presents: World's Finest vol. I.

The story began with the citizens of Gotham City looking up in the sky at a bird, no a plane, no it's Batman flying over the city like Superman.

In a flashback, we saw Clark Kent and Lois Lane leaving the Daily Planet building to have lunch. With his super hearing Clark overheard two men talking about Professor Pender's machine that was going to fix Superman. He broke his lunch date with Lois to follow the men and find out more about the Professor.

The Gotham City Police Department was also after Prof. Pender, and after a tip by Commissioner Gordon, Batman and Robin drove to Metropolis in the Batmobile.

Back at Metropolis, Superman crashed through the skylight of the Professor's lab, but was hit by a decharge ray. He found that he had lost his powers when the gang began beating up on him. Fortunately for the Man of Steel, Batman and Robin burst in. Batman was exposed to a super charge ray. When he tried to leap to Superman's assistance, Batman crashed through the wall, discovering he had super powers.

Prof. Pender escaped with his power cube. Before Batman could nab the gang, he had to save Superman from falling to the ground, when the Man of Steel, forgetting he no longer had powers, leaped out the window on instinct.

After discussing their strategy, Batman and Superman decided to cover their respective cities to find the Pender and his gang. Since Superman had no powers, Batman modified the Batmobile to become a Supermobile, over ten years before the Supermobile story covered in Episode #156, December 8, 2010. Batman also gave Superman his spare Bat radio and created a Super Cave for the Man of Steel to use as a base, and carved a tunnel to drive out of. Then he picked up Robin and flew back to Gotham City.

Superman patrolled Metropolis in the Supermobile, and stopped a stolen truck by standing in front of it as it approached him. They fell for the bluff. Lois saw all of this, and wondered if Superman had lost his powers.

At the Batcave, Batman had a little trouble adjusting to his new super powers. He landed hard enough to skae Wayne Manor without harming Robin. As Bruce Wayne, he broke the dining room table by leaning on it. While Robin patrolled on the ground Batman handled several emergencies as he patrolled in the air.

In Metropolis, Lois followed Superman, suspicious about the Man of Steel's behavior. Superman followed a stationery truck that had the word misspelled stationary. It stopped at a ship at the docks, and the Man of Steel caught them trying to use a welding torch to cut a hole in the ship and rob it. The welder knew Superman was powerless and tried to torch Superman on the arm, but his invulnerable costume protected him. Superman was lucky that the crook didn't torch his face. The crooks started a fire with their welding torch to aid their escape. Superman used a hose to extinguish the fire, and Lois Lane concluded that this was a Superman impostor. Superman noticed that his arm felt stronger where he had been torched.

After performing another super deed, Batman was informed by Robin that he had received an alert from Superman. After they flew to Metropolis, the Man of Steel informed the Dynamic Duo about the crooks that knew he was powerless. Superman also noticed that the delivery truck tires were muddy, and the only rain in the area had been along the South Hill District.

The three heroes went to the power plant to find any areas that had heavy electrical usage. They found it along Smith Road. While Batman spun the dynamo serving that area fast to send a power surge, Superman flew Robin to Smith Road. The Man of Steel told Robin about being torched on his arm, and deduced that the ray that removed his powers imbedded tiny bits of kryptonite in his costume. After changing to another Superman uniform, his powers returned. Meanwhile Batman carried a box of fuses to reset tripped circuit breakers.

They followed the power line to an abandonded lead mine and fought the gang. Batman appeared in time to help finish off the gang, just as his powers wore off, after 24 hours.

Back at the Daily Planet building, Lois confronted Batman and Superman. She suspected that they had switched uniforms, and was going to print her story that way. Superman decided to play it safe and neither confirmed or denied her allegation. Lois stormed off, tricked again. Superman thought it would be best if the world believed just that, so other criminals would not try the same trick.

I thought Batman made some odd choices in some of his super deeds in Gotham City. He may have made things worse. I don't think that one dynamo would only affect the power line along one road only, but would affect a whole area. And of course, Superman and Batman put another one over Lois Lane. That's a little chauvinistic on their part. Otherwise it was a fun silver age story about Superman trading super powers with Batman. I give the story 4 Capes out of 5.

The second story of the issue was a six page Green Arrow story, The Million Dollar Arrow!, drawn by George Papp.

Tomahawk appeared in the final six page story of the issue,The Juggler Of Fort Cayuga!, drawn by Fred Ray, who drew the iconic Superman, Eagle and Stars and Stripes shield cover from Superman #14.

Elsewhere in DC Comics with the July or July/August 1955 cover date were 30 titles.

In Two Weeks: Superman Family Of Comics Cover Dated September or September October 1955: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #7 & World's Finest Comics #78!

Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups or pages on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.

Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League Of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/, and is now a proud member of the Superman WebRing of websites, and the Superman Podcast Network at http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/supermanpodcastnetwork. Check it out to discover other fine Superman podcasts.

Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.

The theme of this podcast is Plans In Motion, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.

My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any cover art displayed with the show notes is done for entertainment and educational purposes only. I post these episodes to share my enjoyment of Superman comics and do not earn any money from this podcast.

Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Superman #124, September 1958, was published around July 24, 1958. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of 10¢. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. All three stories in this issue were each eight pages long.

The first story of the issue was The Super Sword, written by Jerry Coleman and drawn by Al Plastino. It began as Perry White went on vacation, leaving Lois Lane as temporary Editor-in-Chief. Lois showed Clark a proposed headline about gang leader "Bull" Matthews being sent to prison. Clark reminded her that the evidence that would have convicted him had been destroyed in a fire, so he had been freed. They heard a radio news flash about the Captain of the Betsy Lee finding a knight who had been frozen in ice.

Superman flew to investigate, and freed the knight from his frozen tomb. The knight thanked the Man of Steel for freeing him from Merlin's spell, which had entombed him for a thousand years. Jimmy covered the story when the ship landed, but the knight had escaped, leaving only a hole cut through steel. Another reporter had been a history student, and was familiar with the legends of the Knight, who was alleged to have an enchanted sword that could cut through anything.

The Knight went on a crime spree, robbing an armored car and safe, and slashing through the front of a police car with his sword. Gang leader "Bull" Matthews followed the news stories about the Knight with interest.

When Superman challenged the Knight, he was wounded in the arm by the Knight's sword, although it is shown only in shadow. The Man of Steel was rushed to the hospital, and the story made headlines around the world. Superman would be released from the hospital a few days later.

"Bull" Matthews finally met the Knight, and the two struck a deal. Matthews would pay $30,000 to borrow the Knight's enchanted sword. "Bull" found Superman and stabbed him in the other arm. Again, it was shown only in shadow.

When Matthews returned the sword to the Knight and paid the agreed upon fee, Superman burst in and arrested him. Superman's wounds were all an act, an elaborate sting that was set up to nab "Bull", after the evidence in his previous case had been destroyed.

The hole in the ship's door was caused by Superman's x-ray vision. The sword was actually a fake telescoping sword, and both the armored car and the police car were cardboard fakes.

Back at the Daily Planet, the Knight entered the office and ordered Lois back to her "menial chores as a reporter," because he was none other than Perry White, who had volunteered to be part of the sting.

I liked this story better than I expected, mainly because of the elaborate sting that was set up to nab the crook. It was clever to have Perry leave on vacation at the beginning of the story, to set him up as the Knight,as revealed at the end of the story. Superman did appear silly, though, after he was released from the hospital. He had been wounded in the arm, but he was walking around with the assistance of a crutch. Maybe that was to help support his injured ego. I give this story 4 Superman Capes out of 5.

Mrs. Superman was written by Otto Binder and drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger. The story began with Clark and Lois riding in a helicopter as they returned to Metropolis from an overseas assignment. Clark reminded her that she would be in danger from a gang which was on trial because of stories she wrote about them. A meteor barely misses colliding with the helicopter, and plunged into the mouth of a volcano on an island. Clark and Lois were forced to bail out of the damaged helicopter using parachutes, and landed on this island.

After telling Lois that he would search the island for inhabitants, Clark changed into Superman. He was surprised to find that he couldn't fly. Using his x-ray vision on the volcano, the Man of Steel learned that the meteorite was a piece of kryptonite, and the volcano was now spewing a cloud of fine kryptonite dust. It wasn't enough to harm Superman, but just enough to remove his powers.. The Man of Steel discovered that he was as marooned on the island as Lois was.

Superman decided that if he couldn't escape the island, he would make Lois's dream come true. After changing back into his Clark Kent clothes, he discovered a village on the island. Clark returned to Lois and revealed his secret identity, proving it by demonstrating a few feats of strength. The village chief agreed to wed them in a week's time, so Clark/Superman spent the time building a treetop home for his bride to be.

An earthquake hit the island, and Superman, again using his x-ray vision on the volcano, discovered that a crack developed in the volcano, which swallowed the kryptonite metorite. The volcano was no longer spewing kryptonite dust, and the Man of Steel learned that his full powers had returned. But it was almost time for the wedding.

Superman searched the ocean floor and found some equipment on a sunken wreck. As Clark, he gave Lois a special belt and led her into a cave, where he told her that Superman had built the machine, which was a type of magnet. It would cause the belt's wearer to float in the air. He then showed her the rock he had lifted on the beach was actually made of paper maché, so even she could lift it. Clark then showed Lois a hidden blow torch, which had been set to turn on automatically, faking his x-ray vision.

Lois was understandably furious, and stormed off. Clark put a message in a bottle and threw it into the ocean, near a ship. Clark and Lois were saved by the ship's crew, and when they returned to Metropolis, they learned that the gang members had been convicted. Lois was in love with Superman again, because she was convinced that the Man of Steel had set up the ruse to keep her safely away from Metropolis until after the trial was over.

Once again, Clark/Supermantricked Lois again. I guess Mort Weisinger thought it was time for another variation on that theme. I don't know if that was more strange than Lois's obsessive reasoning over Superman's motivations at the end of the story. It was a good, but not great Superman story, but I always enjoy Kurt Schaffenberger's art. So I give this story 3 Capes out of 5.

The Steeplejack Of Steel was written by Otto Binder, pencilled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye. Superman discovered that a building under construction was about to collapse, so he shored up the structure. Wondering if it was an accident, the Man of Steel investigated closer and discovered that inferior steel girders were being used.

Superman disguised himself as construction worker Kirk Brent, and was hired by job superintendent Bert Benson. Benson noticed that Brent's hands were not calloused, so he suspected Brent to be a plant by the city's Building Inspector office. He decided to put Kirk through the ringer to convince him to quit.

Benson took Brent to the top of the structure. Brent was thrown off balance by a gust of wind, but the disguised Superman covered himself by performing gymnastic exercises on top of a steel girder, high above the ground. Benson then threw a hot rivet at Brent, which he caught in his hand. To cover himself, the disguised Superman had grabbed a piece of asbestos insulation (which dates this story, since asbestos has been banned as a building material).

Brent realized that Benson was trying to get rid of him. Using his super hearing, the disguised Superman overheard a phone conversation with Benson where he learned that a flood would delay the delivery of more building supplies. Superman flew to the site of the flood and raised the trackbed above the floodwaters, allowing the materials to be delivered to the construction site on time.

A desperate Benson later swung a crane load of steel girders into Brent's back. Being invulnerable, the disguised Superman barely felt the impact, and the girders crashed to the ground. Spooked, Benson called his supplier, telling him not to make the girders too bad, or it could raise suspicions.

Superman overheard the conversation and followed the signal through the telephone wire to building supplier T. B. Oliver. Disguising himself as Brent again, he introduced himself to Oliver. Having been tipped off about Brent, Oliver had Brent encased in cement. After it hardened, Superman burst out of the concrete and took both Benson and Oliver to jail. After reinforcing the steel so that the building would be safe, the Man of Steel learned that the new building would be named in his honor.

This story reminded of some of the earliest Superman stories, when he was more of a social crusader. So I gave this story 4 Capes out of 5.

Action Comics #244, September 1958, was published around July 31, 1958. It contained 32 pages and sold for a dime. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye, the same art team on the Superman story of this issue.

The Super Merman Of The Sea was written by Otto Binder, and was twelve pages long. It began when Clark Kent went on vacation, but he would spend both weeks on patrol as Superman.

The Man of Steel saw a rocket crash into the ocean, and he rushed to its rescue. He discovered that the only crew were a father and daughter, both merpeople. They communicated with Superman telepathically, and introduced themselves as Vullor and Lya-La, who wanted to settle in Earth's oceans.

News reports spread around the world about Superman flying into the ocean, but hadn't been seen since. Using letters from the names of sunken ships, the Man of Steel created a message that floated to the surface, which said that he was exiled underwater. He agreed to live underwater with the alien merfamily.

Jimmy Olsen followed up on the story, checking with a scientist, who informed him that there was no kryptonite radiation on Earth which would force Superman's exile. Perry then sent Jimmy to investigate unusually turbulent waters in the Sargasso Sea. Using a dive suit, Jimmy learned that he Superman was building an underwater Fortress of Solitude.

After Jimmy left, Superman built a machine which extracted dissolved minerals from seawater. He also installed cameras on the ocean floor so he could monitor them for trouble. Then he built a mechanical whale, which could bring him samples of sea life to study.

When Jimmy returned to the Daily Planet and delivered his story, Lois went to the same site, and investigated the situation using a diving bell. She saw Superman with Lya-La, and assumed that the two were in love.

An emergency session of the UN was convened, and member nations were convinced that Superman was being held against his will. A submarine tracked the Man of Steel, and fired a kryptonite tipped torpedo to try to rescue him from his captors. Superman broke open some sunken oil drums to hide himself, and he hid in his mechanical whale.

Superman appeared to help Vulkor and Lya-La turn Earth into a new water world. He even activated the devide that would melt the world's icecaps. But he had secretly built a special lens that harmlessly diffused the machines rays. And gifts he had given Lay-La were actually full of salt, which were raising the salt levels of the surrounding waters to poisonous levels for the merpeople. I wonder how it was affecting the sea life in the immediate area?

The trick worked, as Vulkor and Lya-La left Earth in their spaceship. with his work done, as well as his vacation, he returned to work at the Daily Planet as Clark Kent. The top headline of that day's Daily Planet was about Superman foiling the undersea plot. Lois told Clark that she was relieved that Superman wan't in love with that "hussy", and asked Clark if he wished he was back at his seashore vacation. Clark replied taht he had enough of swimming for a whole year.

This was another clever story, where Superman out thought instead of out fought the villain, and I give this story 4 Capes out of 5.

Elsewhere in DC Comics, there were 35 titles that carried the September or September/October 1958 cover date.

Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups or pages on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.

Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League Of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/, and is now a proud member of the Superman WebRing of websites, and the Superman Podcast Network at http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/supermanpodcastnetwork. Check it out to discover other fine Superman podcasts.

Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.

The theme of this podcast is Plans In Motion, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.

My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any cover art displayed with the show notes is done for entertainment and educational purposes only. I post these episodes to share my enjoyment of Superman comics and do not earn any money from this podcast.

Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

I'm glad that I took the week off after MegaCon for my vacation, because it took the entire week to post everything I wanted to about my trip to MegaCon. As you can tell from the selection of panels I attended, which I posted as episodes, I love learning about the craft of comic book storytelling, as well as more about some of my favorite creators.

Since I was going to cover the DC Panel and the John Schneider panel for the Superman Homepage website, I missed out on the Stan Lee and Star Trek panels. I also missed out on the biggest story to come out of MegaCon, as posted on all of the comic book websites, Mark Waid's and Ethan Van Sciver's confrontation with Rob Granito, who apparently has been copying the work of other professional artists and selling them as his own, after making slight changes. I didn't spend a lot of time in Artists' Alley, except to buy the latest copies of Derrick Fish's self published title, The Wellkeeper. So I wasn't in any danger of buying any of Granito's fraudulent art. I was so focused on the panels that I missed out on the fun on Sunday.

There were a few panels I didn't record, or the audio was not good enough to post as an individual episode. So I will discuss them briefly here. The first of these panels was The New York Connection. It was the fourth and final panel I attended on Friday, March 25, 2011. It was about some of the comic book pros who grew up in New York City and met in the industry. The panelists were Amanda Conner, Frank Tieri, Jimmy Palmiotti, Joe Jusko, Nelson DeCastro and Billy Tucci. All of them grew up around the New York area except for Amanda, who met them when she moved to New York City to begin working in the industry. There was a bar near the Marvel offices which was a popular hangout for the Marvel staff, including the panelists. The panel was a great way to end the first day of MegaCon, a real energy boost. They told a lot of funny stories on each other and shared some of their humorous anecdotes about their careers, including getting barred from a convention for a few years because of a hotel incident after the end of the Con..

I almost missed out on the Spotlight On DC Comics Panel, which was the second panel I planned to attend on Saturday, March 25, 2011. The first panel that day ran long, Words And Pictures, The Art Of Storytelling In Comics. By the time I got to the DC Panel, it was standing room only and there was no room to squeeze in the door. I was very disappointed because I had volunteered to cover it for the Superman Homepage website. I was about to give up on it, when someone left, and another guy held the door open for me. I whipped out my recorder and caught what part of the panel I could. As it turned out I got there just in time. The panelists were Geoff Johns, Dan Didio, Steve Scott, Rob Hunter, Ethan Van Sciver and Tony Bedard. The first question I heard was about the Doomsday storyline in the Superman titles. Dan Didio said that since the Man of Steel had been out of Action Comics and Superman for a while, and they wanted to bring him back in the most exciting way possible. Doomsday made the most sense to them. Usually DC releases their events in the middle of the year, but they wanted to do something special for the upcoming Action Comics #900.

The same person expressed his appreciation for DC pulling back their cover prices to $2.99. Didio said that he guaranteed that their regular issues would remain at that price through the end of the year. That didn't mean that the price would increase at the beginning of 2012. As long as readers support DC titles, the price will remain at $2.99. The conversation moved to other areas of the DC Universe, and I decided to leave so that I could catch the Mark Waid panel.

The Future Of Comics And New Media was the first panel I attended on Sunday, March 27, 2011. I made the mistake of not sitting near the panelists table, so the audio was not good enough to post as an individual episode. The panelists were Darwyn Cooke, Terry Moore and Jim Valentino. They felt that digital comics have the potential to revive the comic book industry. Terry Moore said that his personal goal was to remove every middleman between him and his readers, and digital comic books fit that goal perfectly.

Several obstacles that need to be overcome for this to come to pass are, an app that can work across platforms like iPads, Android, etc. The price of devices need to drop more to become financially affordable for a wider audience. Most importantly, a proprietary software that can prevent digital copies from being distributed freely through bit torrent websites, so that comic book creators do not lose a well earned income from their work.

Another thing that will boost digital comics is another Siegel and Shuster creation. Just as Superman put superhero comic book son the map, digital comics need a similar creation. Terry Moore added that digital comic books need a Disney vision, a Walt as well as a Roy Disney. In other words, someone with the creative vision and someone with the business savvy to make it work.

Darwyn Cooke said that digital comics has the potential of creating a new storytelling vocabulary. Readers of digital comics can have the ultimate control over experiencing a comic book. For instance, in a chase scene, it would be possible for a reader to touch on a pop up map to show where everyone is at any stage of the chase. Also, they could read the story in the pencilled, inked or finished stage.

The topic of digital comics touched on a number of panels I attended. Several pros expressed some frustration with the top comic book publishers, who are resistant to the future of digital comics. A number of pros felt these publishers were making the same mistake the music industry made with the rise of digital songs.

The other panel I covered for the Superman Homepage website was the John Schneider panel. It was the second panel I attended on Sunday. The Digital Comics panel ran long, so I got there a little bit late. But I did get to listen to most of it. John Schneider was a very warm person to the audience, and had a great sense of humor. He shared many anecdotes about his acting and music career, including playing a southern redneck for his audition for The Dukes of Hazzard TV show, even though he was from New York State.John also had a lot of stories about his time on Smallville, including a few non spoiler stories about filming the series finale. He talked about one scene in the first part of the final episode, when he has a conversation with Clark, telling his son how much he believes in him. John also shared about his charity work, including being one of the founders of the Children's Miracle Network.

The final panel I attended for MegaCon was The Do's And Don'ts Of Comics. Originally, the final panel I was going to attend was Creator Owned Comics, which had Terry Moore, Billy Tucci, Jim Valentino, Ron Marz, Brian Pulido and Jimmy Palmiotti. Terry had to leave early to catch his flight back to Houston, so the panel was rescheduled to the same time as the Do's And Don'ts panel. Since golden age Marvel/Timely artists Allen Bellman was on this panel, I decided to attend this one. Joining Allen on this panel were Steve Scott, Frank Tieri, Nelson DeCastro and Paolo Rivera.

Some of their advice about applying for comic book work was very basic, such as dressing appropriately and having good body language. They advised prospective pros to self publish to get their foot in the door. Good communications with other pros they're working with, as well as good relations, is very important. Also, it's best to be careful when dating inside the industry. A relationship ending badly can really hurt a career. Leave the ego at the door. The most important job is to create the best comic book story possible. Think visually like a movie, using a variety of shots to add variety to a story.

The door seems to be open wider than ever before for women and minorities in comics. A large number of women work at all levels of the industry, and are present in larger numbers in graphic design schools.

The only bad thing about MegaCon was that I overspent on comic book t-shirts. I intended to get a replacement for my worn out Superman t-shirt. I wound up getting a second Superman t-shirt with the logo, as well as Incredibles and Mighty Mouse shirts.

Next year, MegaCon is scheduled for February 17 - 19, 2012. Check their website periodically for updated information as the convention approaches.

Join the Superman Fan Podcast and My Pull List groups or pages on facebook, and follow the podcast and blogs on twitter @supermanpodcast.

Superman Fan Podcast is a proud member of the League Of Comic Book Podcasters at http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league and the Comics Podcast Network! http://www.comicspodcasts.com/, and is now a proud member of the Superman WebRing of websites, and the Superman Podcast Network at http://www.fortressofbaileytude.com/supermanpodcastnetwork. Check it out to discover other fine Superman podcasts.

Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.

The theme of this podcast is Plans In Motion, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.

My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.

Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any cover art displayed with the show notes is done for entertainment and educational purposes only. I post these episodes to share my enjoyment of Superman comics and do not earn any money from this podcast.

Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Amanda Conner began the panel by reviewing her career. She began her career in the mid 1980's working for Marvel, Archie Comics and Disney. Amanda drew such characters as Bayou Bill, Archie, Barbie and Gargoyles. She had a lot more fun drawing Vampirella. Drawing licensed properties such as Barbie was more limiting because of corproate restrictions. Amanda also enjoyed drawing Power Girl.

Currently, she is working on a project for DC Comics that hasn't been announced yet, and Captain Brooklyn (working title) with Frank Tieri and Jimmy Palmiotti serving as co-writers. A character she would love to work on is Catwoman.

Someone in the audience asked her what her standard daily schedule was? Amanda said that it depends on her schedule. For instance, with Power Girl, she had a few months head start, which was handy because she said she isn't a fast artist. It helped that there was a skip month between issues six and seven. But with the last several issues she basically worked around the clock with only nap breaks. At the end of the twelve issues she attended WonderCon in San Francisco, and after visiting family and then attending a Chicago comic book convention, she contracted chicken pox.

A normal day, when she is doing covers and commissions, is to first drink coffee, then after eating something work from 11 - 8. When she is doing a comic book project or pressed for a deadline she will work until 2 or 3 in the morning.

Another person asked her is there might be any more stories with The Pro. Amanda said that she wished. Whenever she talked with The Pro writer Garth Ennis, he reminded her that the character died at the end of the story and he wanted to leave her dead. So she is still wearing him down, as Amanda put it.

A woman in the audience asked her if it was harder to break into the industry because she was a woman. Amanda said that she was blissfully unaware if any rejections were because of her work or her gender. When she began attending the Joe Kubert School Of Comic Book Art, Joe told the beginning students that the comic book industry would be very hard, so she wasn't caught off guard when she had early struggles breaking in.

Jimmy Palmiotti joined the panel around this time. He said that what he likes about Amanda's artwork is that she always puts interesting things in the backgrounds.

Amanda was asked which comic books she read. She said she loves Terry Moore's Echo. Jimmy said that Echo was always on time and is a great story with a strong female lead. Amanda added that she likes Fables and Ed Brubaker's Incognito.

Someone asked why Vartox was brought in to Power Girl. Amanda said his sexiness. Jimmy, who was a co-writer on the title, got tired of being told by various DC editors that he couldn't use any villains he suggested because of different reasons. When Jimmy asked which villain he could use, Dan Didio suggested Vartox. Jimmy said that he decided that Vartox would fall in love with Power Girl. He wanted to show that she wasn't always angry as she had been in past stories. Amanda said that she wanted to show what serious people do when they are around silly people.

Jimmy said that while he enjoys superheroes, he prefers the relationship aspects of superhero comics. He developed Power Girl's relationship with Terra as a mentor relationship. He felt that Amanda was the best artist to pull of the version of Power Girl he wanted to do.

Another question was how the story about the comic book nerd developed. Jimmy said that he wanted to put Power Girl in the real world, instead of punching her way out of problems. He wanted to establish her personality and show her compassionate side. Amanda said that she wanted to know where she came from and portray her making a new life for herself.

So Jimmy put a comic book shop in her neighborhood, and had one of the customers learn her secret identity. So he wanted to show how she handled the kid, and how he handled her, and show her compassionate side.

Someone asked Amanda and Jimmy's opinion about the coming digital revolution. Amanda said that it was a new delivery system. Jimmy said that digital comics won't be a threat to comic book stores if they keep up with the times. Meltdown Comics brings a food truck on Wednesday and creates an atmosphere where fans can gather to talk about comic books. Jimmy talked about Isotope Comics in San Francisco. That store has a lounge where people gather to have conversations.

When he's writing, Jimmy likes to listen to music. Amanda likes to watch TV shows that are dialogue heavy but not visually distracting, like judge shows. She's learned a lot about civil law that way.

Amanda and Jimmy were asked what each other's most annoying habit is. (Amanda and Jimmy are engaged.) Amanda said that when he steps out of the shower, Jimmy gets water all over the bathroom floor. Jimmy, smartly, said that Amanda doesn't have any annoying habits. He just has to wait for her when they're going somewhere.

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